Olympic champion Peaty wins maiden short course title

Such is the magnitude of Adam Peaty's success, one would expect him to have won it all.

But even with Olympic gold and five world crowns to his name, a short course title still evaded the 22-year-old's grasp - until this week's European Championships, that is.

Having won 50m breaststroke bronze in a personal best time, Peaty backed up that effort with gold over 100m, setting a new European record in the process in Copenhagen.

Touching the wall in a time of 55.94 seconds, Peaty clinched the top step of the podium ahead of Italy's Fabio Scozzoli and Russia's Kirill Prigoda in second and third respectively, with British teammate Ross Murdoch placing eighth in a personal best and Scottish record time.

Ever the gentleman, Peaty handed his medal to a young fan in the crowd, and he insists his victory is an important stepping stone to getting even better in the water.

"That kind of a race was a tussle, I knew it was going to be a tussle in that last 25 but if anyone is next to me, I'm the man to get it done," he told British Swimming.

"It's great to kind of carry that experience as an athlete as this is my third ever final in short course.

"Compared to long course where I've had hundreds, so this kind of experience to me is vital and is going to help me get even faster on the long course."